Editing Johnny Mnemonic (film) (section)

==Release and marketing==
Simultaneous with Sony Pictures' release of the film, its soundtrack was released by Sony subsidiary [[Columbia Records]], and the corporation's digital effects division Sony ImageWorks issued a CD-ROM videogame version for MS-DOS, Mac, and Windows 3.x.<ref name=harmon/> The [[Johnny Mnemonic (video game)|''Johnny Mnemonic'' videogame]], which was developed by Evolutionary Publishing, Inc. and directed by [[Douglas Gayeton]], offered 90 minutes of full motion video storytelling and puzzles.<ref name=ew/> A [[pinball machine]], also titled ''[[Johnny Mnemonic (pinball)|Johnny Mnemonic]]'', was released.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2005-11-27-0511270456-story.html|title=Pinball's still in play|last=McNamara|first=Chris|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=2005-11-27|accessdate=2023-04-15|archive-date=2023-04-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415222100/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2005-11-27-0511270456-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Sony realized early on the potential for reaching their target demographic through Internet marketing, and its new-technology division promoted the film with an online scavenger hunt offering $20,000 in prizes. One executive was quoted as remarking "We see the Internet as turbo-charged word-of-mouth. Instead of one person telling another person something good is happening, it's one person telling millions!".<ref name=harmon/> The film's website, the first official site launched by [[Columbia TriStar Interactive]],<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=January 25, 1999|page=76|title=Col caught in Web|last=Graser|first=Marc|edition=Columbia Pictures 75th Anniversary}}</ref> facilitated further cross-promotion by selling Sony Signatures-issued ''Johnny Mnemonic'' merchandise such as a "hack your own brain" T-shirt and Pharmakom coffee cups. Screenwriter [[William Gibson]] was deployed to field questions about the videogame from fans online.  Despite having created ''cyberspace'', one of the core metaphors for the internet age, Gibson had never been on the Internet previously.  The habitually reclusive novelist likened the experience to "taking a shower with a raincoat on" and "trying to do philosophy in Morse code".<ref name=harmon/>  Gibson commented that the exercise seemed more like Sony testing the viability of internet marketing rather than an interactive event for their customers.<ref name=harmon/>

The film grossed [[Japanese yen|¥]]73.6&nbsp;million ($897,600) in its first 3 days in Japan from 14 screens in the nine key Japanese cities.<ref name=pioneer>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=April 24, 1995|page=12|title='Mnemonic' bows big in Japan|last=Groves|first=Don|url=https://variety.com/1995/film/features/mnemonic-bows-big-in-japan-99128192/#!|accessdate=August 13, 2021|archive-date=May 31, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531152340/https://variety.com/1995/film/features/mnemonic-bows-big-in-japan-99128192/#!|url-status=live}}</ref> It was released in the United States and Canada on May 26 in 2,030 theaters, grossing $6 million in the opening weekend. It grossed $19.1 million in total in the United States and Canada against its $26&nbsp;million budget.<ref name=mojo/>  Gibson was told that the film performed well in Asia and was one of the few profitable films for Sony in 1995.<ref name=diggle/>